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MEMORIAL ADDRESS 



LIFE AND CHARACTER 



JOSEPH SALYARDS 




ELON 0?'HENKEL 



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Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1893, by 

HENKEI. & COMPANY, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



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DEDICATED 

TO HIS NUMEROUS PUPII^S, ' 

SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, 

FAITHFUI,I,Y EMPI<OYED IN THE DISCHARGE OF DUTY, 

WHO HOIvD IN FOND, 

1,0 VING REMEMBRANCE THEIR TEACHER, 

BY ONE OF THEIR NUMBER, 
THE AUTHOR. 



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INTRODUCTORY. 



By special appointment of Prof. W. H. Smith, A. M., President 
of the New Market Polytechnic Institute, and a committee of the 
alumni, the author delivered, during commencement week, on Friday 
night, May 25, 1886, before the Alumni Association of the aforesaid 
Institution, the Memoriai. Address on the Life and Charac- 
ter OF Joseph Sai^yards, herewith for the first time presented in 
printed form to the public. In an interview, several weeks pre- 
ceding the death of Prof. Sai^yards, the author secured many of 
the facts embodied in the address, and now submits them in their 
present form as the fullest and completest biography of the de- 
ceased yet published. The closing pages contain short extracts 
from Idothea, a poem written by Prof. Salyards, and are thus 
presented to exhibit his ability as a master of epic, satiric, and 

lyric composition. 

ELON O. HENKEL. 
New Market, March, 1893. 



i 



-s- 



FUNERAL SERVICES. 

Prof. Joseph Salyards, A. M., died at his home at New 
Market, Virginia, August lo, 1885, at 12.10 o'clock, a. m. ; 
aged 76 years, 4 months, and i day. The interment took 
place on Tuesday, August 11, in Emmanuel Evangelical 
lyUtheran graveyard, adjoining the grounds of the Institution 
in which he had taught so long and with such signal ability. 
The funeral sermon, with the subject — The Mission of Man 
^derived from Genesis i, 28, "And God said, Replenish 
the earth and subdue it," was preached by Rev. Socrates 
Henkel, D. D. (a former student), Rev. J. A. Snyder and 
Rev. J. P. Stirewalt (a former student) participating in the 
presence of a large and sympathizing congregation . 

The following pall -bearers were selected : Judge George 
R. Calvert, Dr. Casper C. Henkel, Messrs. George A. Mof- 
fett, Samuel P. Shirley, Lewis P. Henkel, M. White Wil- 
liamson, Prof. William H. Smith, Prof. Clarence H. Urner, 
Rev. David I. Offman, and Mr. Elon O. Henkel; Mr. 
Ambrose L. Henkel acting as usher — all former pupils. 

During the funeral services, as a tribute of respect to his 
worth and usefulness, all the places of business in the town 
closed their doors and suspended active operations. The 
Board of Trustees of the Polytechnic Institute, of which 
Institution he was the President and Professor, also adopt- 
ed resolutions appropriate to his memor}^ 

Such is the brief, but melancholy record of the last 
marks of honor paid to this remarkable man — this prodigy 
of learning — who in life was revered and in death lamented. 



PROGRESSION. 



IS it an evil to be called away 
From huts of mud and tenements of clay, 
(E'en if we leave our rotten rags behind,) 
To lighted halls and banquets of the mind ? 
The conscious life which fill'd the hapless lamb. 
Shall fill again the virgin clay with balm, 
In fairer form shall walk the flowery plain, 
Endiied with joys that triumph over pain. 
That spark of life, escaped the smitten dove, 
Shall light a brow with lineaments of love. 
And syllable along the vocal tongue, 
Bright thoughts that never had been felt or sung. 
The form we love, and dress with gaudy care. 
And wipe our mirrors, to behold how fair, 
Turn'd, view'd, admir'd, with all the zest of pride, 
Is ripe for Nature when it shall have died. 

— FROM IDOTHEA. 



■€3 E3- 



_^__ Ei- 



MEMORIAL ADDRESS 

ON THE 

Life and Character of Joseph Salyards. 



UNDER the shadow of a great and common sorrow, we 
come together to-night to lay the wreath of tearful 
laurel upon the altar of "departed worth." Within the 
past several months unpitying death has invaded the ranks 
of the faculty of this Institution, and now Prof. Joseph 
Salyards, its venerable president and teacher, no longer 
occupies the chair he had so long, usefully, and efficiently 
filled. In the name of that intellect he so zealously strove 
to instruct, of that warm enthusiasm his ardour inspired, 
and of that catholic spirit of liberality as opposed to big- 
otry he so fondly cherished, we come to-night to contem- 
plate the life and character of him who was the guardian 
of our youth, under whose efficient tuition we attained the 
Master's degree, and by whom we were dismissed from 
"these hospitable walls with a parental blessing." In the 
name of all these tender ties and sacred associations, we 
come to contemplate his life and character — the struggles 
he encountered and the successes he achieved, that we, 
too, may draw hope from the springs of his inspiration 
and learn lessons of usefulness from his brilliant career. 
Indebted more to dame nature than to fickle fortune, 



■&■ 



I: 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 



the subject of this address found in the localit}^ of his 
birth one of the chief elements of his claim to her distin- 
guished favor. Indeed, the physical features of a country- 
have much to do with the inspiration of character and 
the development of latent genius. To such high degree 
has this been esteemed a factor, that to its origin the in- 
tellectual greatness and historic braver}^ of the Grecian 
people, have been righth^ attributed. 

Sa3^s the astute, philosophic Dr. Smith in his history: 
' ' Greece is one of the most mountainous countries of Eu- 
rope." "One of" its "most striking peculiarities . . . 
is the wonderful extent of its sea-coast. Of all natural 
objects, the mountains and the sea have ever been the 
most powerful instruments in moulding the intellectual 
character of a people. The Greeks were both mountain- 
eers and mariners, and as such they possessed the suscep- 
tibilit}^ to external impressions, the love of freedom, and 
the spirit of adventure, which have alwa3^s characterized, 
more or less, the inhabitants of mountainous and maritime 
districts." 

According to a tradition in their family, the Salyards 
ancestr}^ were sea -faring people, as the name indicated when 
formerly written Sailyards, which, following the general 
law of language, dropped the superfluous letter. 

In what is now known as Warren Count3% Virginia, near 
Front Royal, where the Blue Ridge Mountains stand like 
a Titan, appealing to the circling sky, on April 9, 1808, 



i- 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SAL YARDS. 



Joseph Sal yards was born, breathed, and first beheld 
the light. In sight of these same awe-inspiring mountains, 
or of old ocean itself, the statesmen Jefferson, Madison, 
and Marshall, the orators Clay and Henr\^ the warriors 
Washington and Lee, were bom, and near the summit of 
these same grand old mountains, William R. Barbee, the 
sculptor, caught grace firom inspiration to invest marble in 
poetic garb, whilst at the foot on the opposite side, Joseph 
Sal YARDS learned from genius to pen the prophecies of the 
epic muse. Barbee and Sal yards — Sculptor and Poet! 
Twin brothers in the same objective and subjective, im- 
perishable art ! O classic climax to the flashing galaxy of 
Virginia's gifted sons ! The land of able statesmen, great 
warriors, natural orators, and polished poets — ^beautiful 
women and brave men — the loved land of the real and of 
the romantic ! Histor^^ is still repeating the same old storj^ : 



The Mountains look on Marathon 
And Marathon looks on the Sea ! 



If the features of the locality of his birth were benefi- 
cent and propitious. Nature also endowed Prof. Salyards 
with a wealth of intellect and emotion highly transcendent 
in their character. Her gifts were rich, lavish, and versa- 
tile. Without the adventitious aid of capricious fortune, 
he attained that remarkable eminence to which his talents 
and genius, combined with incessant labor, justly entitled 



-C&- 



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lo LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 



him. To these fountains must we trace his brilliant ca- 
reer, for 

Honor and shame from no condition rise, 
Act well your part, there all the honor lies. 

Born in the home of poverty, he was reared by the hand 
of rude adversity. Of his father, Levi Salyards, but little 
is known, except that in the early history of our country, 
he enlisted in the army to fight the Indians, and was 
never heard of afterwards. His mother's maiden name 
was Alice Edwards, a native of England, and descended 
from a noble family — ^tracing their ancestry back to Edward 
VI. This fact known, the depth of feeling in the follow- 
ing apostrophe from his poem, Idothea, will be the more 
fully understood : 

Dear Old England, ever leading 

Onward through the files of Fate, 
Foremost where the brave are bleeding, 
Foremost where the wise debate ; 
Mistress of the willing sea. 
Mother of the nations free, 
Friend of Genius, r,eaming, Art, 
Honest friend of honest heart ; 
Source of social elevation. 

Schemes of wide benevolence. 
Pioneer to every nation. 
Up the steeps of Providence ! 

In what year her parents emigrated to this country, loca- 
ting at Williamsburg, Virginia, is not known. Whatever 
talents and genius the son possessed, he seems to have 



-E3- 



-* _ s - 



UFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 



inherited from his mother, who was regarded as a woman 
of superior intellect and judgment naturally, though de- 
void of literary culture. He had one brother, John, and 
two sisters, Rebecca and Isabella, older than himself, and 
one brother, Wesley, younger than himself — all of whom 
are dead. In his sixth year, the family moved to Page 
County. Here his mother was induced to send him to 
school, through the importunities of Henry Gander — a 
youth desirous of his company — to whom is due the honor 
of having taught him the letters of the English alphabet. 
Mr. Gander relates that it was with considerable dif&culty 
that he succeeded in teaching him these simple elements, 
but that afterwards he made very rapid progress. The 
family having resided here some six or seven years, they 
moved into the adjoining county, Shenandoah, near Mr. 
Jacob Rice's — at what is now known as the Yellow Sul- 
phur Spring — on the side of the Massanutten Mountain. 
William Thompson taught at John Newman's school- 
house, near New Market, which school young Sal yards 
attended. Here he studied nothing but Pike's arithmetic, 
completing it in forty-five days, the session only embracing 
that short time. Then, for a year or less, he attended 
school at New Market under the tuition of George Gilbert 
— his studies embracing reading, writing, arithmetic, sur- 
veying, and algebra. Whilst here, the late Dr. Samuel G. 
Henkel, and other leading citizens, took great interest in 
him, and encouraged him, furnishing him with Greek, 



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i 



lifp: and character of Joseph vSalyarDvS. 



Latin, and other books of the dead languages, as well as 
classical and scientific works. Afterwards Winslow Hous- 
ton assumed control of the school. In its conduct, young 
Salyartxs joined Houston, who taught him I^atin in re- 
muneration for his services in teaching the mathematics. 
However, this joint service was not of long duration ; 
perhaps, a year or more. Feeling himself competent, 
young Salyards engaged in the occupation of teaching 
school at Rader's church, in Rockingham County, Vir- 
ginia. How long he taught there is not known. After 
this, he taught a private school at Ephraim Rinker's, in 
Shenandoah County, Virginia. From Rinker's he came 
hack to Rader's church, where he had married Miss Sarah 
May about the year 1828. To them the following chil- 
dren were born : George Webster, Erasmus, Amanda, 
Sidney, Martha, Henry, Emma, Caroline, and two who 
died quite young. Five survive them — George Webster, 
Henry, Martha, Emma, and Caroline — all of whom mar- 
ried. The house in which the marriage took place is still 
standing. 

Such is the rude simplicity of the early history of Prof. 
Salyards — a man who was as talented as he was modest ; 
as learned as he was unpretentious. 

In his autobiography. Rev. Prof. Samuel K. Hoshour, 
A. M., late of Indianapolis, Indiana, furnishes the follow- 
ing short account of the early history of the subject of 
this sketcli : 



■S3- 



-^ 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SAL YARDS. 



During my connection with the New Market Academy, I had frequent inter- 
views with a pleasant teacher of a county school in the vicinity of the town. 
In one of our interviews he told me he had an intellectual prodigy in his school 
by the name of Joseph Salyards, the son of a poor widow at the foot of the 
Massanutten Mountain. The youth did not go to school before his fourteenth 
year. There was nothing striking in his person. In six weeks he learned to 
read fluently in the most elaborate style, — in two months he mastered Pike's 
Arithmetic ; algebra was a mere pastime with him ; and i^nglish grammar was 
disposed of with almost lightning speed ! I told my friend I should like to see 
his "prodigy"; he should send him to my house. He came; and in my first 
interview with him, he asked me whether I had any author on mental philoso- 
phy. I said I had. Would you lend it to me for perusal? Yes, if you take 
good care of it. I entrusted the book to him; he returned it uninjured. In 
looking over my library, he saw Virgil attractively bound. He took it down 
and requested me to read I^atin to him, — he had never heard I,atin. I read and 
translated a part of the first Eclogue. After I was done he said, that is splendid ! 

In the spring of 1828, I received a call to a I,utheran pastorate at Smithsburg, 
Washington County, Maryland, which I accepted. This brought my scholastic 
and ecclesiastical labors at New Market, Virginia, to a close. When it was un- 
derstood that I was about to leave that community, Joseph Salyards visited 
me and disclosed to me that that I^atin I read for him was still "ringing in his 
ears"; that he was determined to learn the I^atin language, but before he could 
do that he had to earn money by teaching; and in order to obtain employment 
in that vocation he needed better attire. He was very destitute in that respect. 
A short time after this he wrote me a letter of gratitude for the interest I had 
taken in his case. The letter was unrivaled for beauty of style and appropriate- 
ness of sentiment. 

I showed the letter to the gentleman that was to succeed me in the academy 
and urged him to take Salyards as his usher, and teach him I^atin. The future 
principal took the letter up town and showed it to some of the leading business 
men of the place. It was decided among them that no man in the county could 
equal the production. Interest was gotten up in favor of Salyards, and in a 
short time in a new costume he became usher, acquired the I^atin and Greek 
languages and some of the modem, and for half a century he has been the most 
distinguished teacher in the Shenandoah Valley. He is at this writing, in 1880, 
professor in the "Polytechnic Institute," at New Market. 

He is the author of a volume of poems entitled Idothea, that has received 



■a —a- 



■« Ea- 



14 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SAIvYARDS. 



favorable criticisms from high authorities on "both sides of the waters." Five 
years ago he wrote me the following letter : 

Polytechnic Institute, 
New Market, Va., April 2oth, 1875. 
To the Rev. Prof. S. K. Hoshour, 

My First and Venerable Friend: — ^Many years have passed since I saw you 
last. I am now old, and you must be still more so. You read to me a part of 
Virgil's ifirst Eclogue. You inspired me ! I have since studied languages, and 
have cultivated some taste. I have written much, very much ; but little of it 
will appear to the world. I now send you a little volume — a poem. I want you 
to read it critically. If you will condescend to do so, you may notice it in 
" Our Church Paper," condemn what you find worthy of censure, and praise, if 
you find anything worthy of praise. Be pleased to remember that silence is 
severer rebuke than censure, so please say something. 

Ever most gratefully yours, Joseph Sal yards. 

In order to preserve from oblivion whatever facts might 
be obtained, I wrote to a gentleman of Broadway, Virginia, 
a former pupil and intimate friend of Prof. Sai, yards, 
Dr. John Q. Winfield, requesting him to furnish me such 
data as he had in his knowledge and which would be of 
general interest in biography. How well he discharged 
that request the following interesting extracts will amply 
attest : 

So far as I am aware, the account of him which I propose to give, supplies a 
missing link, and comprehends in all probability the gloomiest period of his life. 

At one time there stood a log cabin in the midst of a field attached to Dr. 
Richard Winfield's farm on Linville Creek, Rockingham County, Virginia. The 
cabin had an old fashioned stone chimney, with a large open fire-place, and 
was divided by a rude board partition into a small bed-room and kitchen which 
latter served also as a living room. An attic or rather garret was reached by a 
ladder from the kitchen. The building was uninviting within and dilapidated 
without— and its isolation was unrelieved by yard or garden fence, tree, shrub, 
or flower. 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 15 



Its furniture was rude, worn, and scanty, and indicated the extreme povert}- 
of the occupants. An old walnut book-case, the shelves of which were crowded 
with books, many of them handsomely bound and a table near by bearing open 
books, manuscripts, writing material, and a finely ornamented flute, were to 
some extent redeeming features, and presented a strange contrast to their sur- 
roundings. . . . Here about fifty years ago, at night, seated by the table 
mentioned, engaged in reading or writing, by a dim sheet-iron lard lamp, I first 
saw Salyards 

He was dressed in a faded snuff colored suit, his eyes were concealed under a 
pair of colored glasses — his face was smooth without beard, complexion florid, 
features regular, and head covered with a heavy suit of disheveled, sandy hair. 
He seemed to be under thirty years of age — of medium height, and lithe and 
rounded in form. 

I afterwards learned that Salyards' s immediate family, at this time, con- 
sisted of himself, mother, wife, and three children, and that the other persons 
whom I observed upon the occasion of my first visit, were made up of a brother, 
sister, brother-in-law, and a half grown nephew. 

Soon a deep-felt want of sympathy and congeniality at his home began to 
develop itself, and deepening at length drove him into excesses, which pained 
his friends and admirers and occasioned him many pangs of remorse. To rid 
himself of the remorse he would plunge into another excess, and for a time 
cause and effect whirled him around in a giddy, vicious circle. He was extrica- 
ted eventually, but at a fearful cost of suffering and apprehension. 

In early life he had lost by accident or disease the sight of one eye and now 
he received a severe injury in the other.* He had to be confined at home to a 
darkened room for a long period, and there endure not only the dread of being 
shut out in this world during life from the light of heaven, but the fear ulti- 
mately of absolute dependence of himself and family upon private or public 
charity. 

His school upon which he had entered had to be closed— he was without 
bread for his family — without income from any source, and without a dollar in 
his pocket. But he ^v^s^not'wittout »a'iiips£ poteent-' fsdend. The Almighty 

»• » J) » Teoo o >> t • I 

*I would here pvarejithetical!^ /einarl^, ^at the; t^s:feas'e', known as ophthalmia 
destroyed his eye whin) a boy abbu^ I'pili;- or^ Svje jy^^rs old,, as the Professor told 
me only a month or so before he departed this life ; however, he lost the sight 
of his other eye about a year before he died, and thus became entirely blind. 



i6 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SAL YARDS. 



Father "who doth all things well," was near. The design was not to crush, 
only to chasten. All the necessaries of life for the afflicted one and his family 
were furnished from day to day and tendered in so delicate a manner as not to 
wound his sensibilities, while he received unremitting attention from his physi- 
cian, accompanied with words of kindness and encouragement. The trial was 
severe, but he came out of it with his sight in a great measure restored — a bet- 
ter man and better fitted to fulfill a lofty destiny. He resumed his school. 
"Good and Evil" still stared him in the face, but he had resolved to seek the 
one and endure the other. At home his books, his thoughts, his flute, and 
his children whom he always fondly loved, did many, if not all of his "weary, 
carking cares beguile." 

Having attended the several schools as already indica- 
ted, the sessions of which continued from three to five 
months per annum, his whole school life must have been 
embraced in a course of one or two years, measured by 
the present scholastic system. Hence, it will be seen that 
his opportunities in this as in other respects were entirely 
limited. With such preparation he entered upon his duties 
as teacher and instructor, and continued his profession 
without interruption for about fifty -six years — forty of 
which he spent as principal teacher in the New Market 
Academy and this Institution. During this period he ap- 
plied himself most diligently to his profession, prosecuting 
his studies most assiduously and successfully during all 
the hours not i.^cctipl^d'hi.'fctiacliijig', iwi^ earnestness and 
devotion unexcellefl-^m/a' word/c'a' failhfiil, unfaltering, 
and life-long s^«der(t;.J ; _Hd !ma<I(j -hirriself thoroughly ac- 
quainted and ' fatttiliar* \vith • eight languages ; namely, 
Hebrew, Greek, Latin, German, French, Spanish, Italian, 



-Q. — — ^ 

LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 17 



and English, the Arts, the Sciences, and a full course of 
Mathematics. As a linguist and mathematician, he had, 
perhaps, no superior in the State. 

As an instructor, he was endowed with rare gifts and 
superior powers. He had a capacity not only for devel- 
oping and imparting to the best possible advantage, but 
also of imbuing and inspiring. From the best estimates 
that can be made, as many as a thousand pupils were 
instructed by him. A large proportion of his students are 
occupied in the learned professions and responsible posi- 
tions in the different departments of life, not only in Vir- 
ginia, but in other States of the Union. What a great 
army of students, and what must be their influence for 
good ! 

Within tw^o years after the death of his first wife, he 
married on March 10, 1861, Miss Elizabeth Flor}^ daugh- 
ter of Mr. Samuel Flory. This proved altogether a con- 
genial union, crowned with peace and happiness, and was 
blessed with three children; viz., Joseph, Minnie, and 
Wesley, all of whom are dead. Their oldest, their son 
Joseph, one of our fellow alumni, early gave evidence of 
achieving a bright reputation in the literar}^ world. One 
of his fictions has already captivated the popular ear, but 
ere fame has sealed his renown with a radiant star, he 
has been brought down to silent dust, scarcely having 
attained his majority, with a literary reputation more than 
half earned. His son Erasmus, a son of his first mar- 



-a- 



i8 I.IFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 



riage, also gave similar bright promise, but alas ! too 
touchingly true is the epitaph on the marble slab, erected 
by his admiring fellow-students to preserve his memory: 

This votive stone, pure friendship's sacred meed, 
Attests the spot that made our memories bleed ; 
Pause, stranger, pause, Erasmus slumbers here, 
Dust dear to youth, to science, virtue dear. 

In regard to clearness, euphony, rhetoric, and logic, as 
a writer the subject of this address had few equals. His 
compositions were sought by leading magazines and peri- 
odicals, to many of which he contributed; besides, he 
wrote a number of essays, addresses, pamphlets, etc. He 
also translated and prepared for the press the Historical 
Introduction to the Book of Concord or Symbolical Books 
of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, Luther on the Sac- 
raments, and other theological works. So thoroughly was 
he convinced of the truth and Scripturalness of these Con- 
fessions that he desired to be initiated into the Church 
through the sacrament of holy baptism, which desire was 
granted about thirty-three years ago. 

However, his greatest, most profound, and learned work, 
manifested itself in a moral or sacred epic poem, entitled 
Idothea ; OR, The Divine Idea, perhaps, unsurpassed 
by anything of the kind in the English language. 

Poetry may be properly divided into three chief classes ; 
Epic, Lyric, and Dramatic, which with their several sub- 
divisions embrace the entire realm. It is universally 



-Q- 



-Q- 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 19 



conceded by competent critics, that the epic is the most 
difficult to create. To such extent is this true, that the 
number of all the epic poems entitled to high distinction 
may be enumerated on the fingers of one hand; yet, Sir 
G. T. Hamilton, K. C. B., in speaking of Idothea in a 
review prepared for the Westminster Quarterly, England, 
says : 

After a very careful perusal, we hesitate not to pronounce this a great Moral 
Epic. . Like Mtlton and Shelley, the author of Idothea seems to feel 
and appreciate the magic of classic and euphonious names, the power of music- 
al terms and epithets The pauses and cadences are so musically 

adjusted, as generally to gratify both the ear and understanding. For the mech- 
anism of musical numbers, let any one take a passage from the first or third 
Idothea, and a similar passage fix>m Pope, Byron, or Tennyson, read them in 
connection, and compare them in respect to rhj'thm, harmony, and ease of ex- 
pression,— then judge in whose favor the command of language is found. . . . 
As to power of conception, we doubt, if the whole range of English poetry pre- 
sents more sublime views than will be found in Idos II., pages 55-72, and in 
Idos III., pages 97-104. 

And this, it should be remembered, is the voluntar}- 
testimony of a gentleman distinguished for high literar}- 
acumen and critical abilit)^ 

In a review, published in the Sunday Leader, Wheel- 
ing, West Virginia, wTitten by Mr. William Leighton, Jr., 
of that citv^ author of the "Sons of Godwin" and several 
other poetical works, which have elicited highly credita- 
ble commendations firom the literar\' world, this poet says 
of Idothea: 

The work which this poem most resembles in scope of thought, and in gen- 
eral design, is, in the writer's opinion, Young^'s "Night-Thoughts"; and if 



-0- 



LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 



IDOTHEA be inferior to this, its great prototype in force and eloquence, it 
scarcely is in g^ace of imagination, while it undoubtedly surpasses the Night- 
Thoughts in melody of versification. 

In this latter respect Idothea is worthy of the highest commendation ; its 
measure is absolutely faultless, and the verse shows everywhere charming effects 
of harmony of sound, produced by no exact adherence to rule, but spontane- 
ousl\' springing into existence, as wonderful revelations of light and shadow, or 
of color, follow the touch of an artist's pencil, defying explanation by the 
clumsy machinery of words. 

The spirit that pervades Idothea has nothing of that turgidity or moroseness 
which often deforms the great poem to which it has been compared, but shows 
a kind and generous feeling through all its philosophical analysis and criticism 
of mankind 

In conclusion, the writer believes there is no extravagance in the opinion that 
this work of Professor Salyards, filled as it is with striking poetical images, 
thoughtful philosophy, and delightful verse, is worthy of a high place in Amer- 
ican literature, and must receive its tribute of admiration from the world, 
unless that world be capable of overlooking a Goddess of Foetry herself, though 
modest, beautiful, and true, if she should come dressed not in strict accord with 
the style of the day, but wearing garments that, perhaps, suggest the fashions 
of the past. 

Again: "A Remarkable Book" — under this head the 
Lutheran Board of Publication, Philadelphia, Pa., says of 
Idothea: 

It would require much time and space to describe the exceeding degree of 
chasteness, learning, poetic genius, and richness of thought and expression that 
we have enjoyed in reading this gem of a book, which has taken the literary 
world all by surprise. It is one of those rare books that you will desire to read 
and study again and again. 

But it is asked, What is the design of this great sacred 
epic, known as Idothea? The universal history of both 
rudely barbaric and of highly civilized mankind, discloses 
a knowledge of a Divine Being. To account for the 



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LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 



origin of this Idea and enforce its presence as coincident 
with the consciousness of good and evil, constitute the 
ground-work of the poem. The three great departments 
of the universe, the intellectual, the moral, and the spirit- 
ual, are boldly encompassed. Two leading characters, 
known as Idothea and Erasmus, constitute the heroine 
and hero of the poem — with a few other appropriate char- 
acters. Truth, a divine attribute, disguised under the 
form of Idothea, impersonates the moral world, whilst 
Erasmus dominates the intellectual. To each of these 
three great divisions into which the poem is divided, there 
is a separate invocation. The invocation to the first divis- 
ion is entitled More Light, exhibiting the intellectual ; to 
the second, More Love, indicative of the moral; to the 
third, More Liberty, manifesting the spiritual. Idothea 
and Erasmus, having traversed the moral and intellectual 
worlds and ascertained "the sources of our knowledge, 
the origin of our hopes and fears, our affections and de- 
sires, pursuing every thought upward from the natural to 
the supernatural," are finally united in the bonds of mat- 
rimony, the climax to the poem being reached with their 
advent into the spiritual world, the beauties and delights 
of which are described with the hand of imagination in 
manner unsurpassed. 

To construct the plot, master the detail of machinery, 
and preserv^e the general unity of action, required genius 
of the highest inventive order, language and sentiment 



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LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 



most refined and purest, and power of conception clearest 
and grandest. And yet with pardonable pride, we can say- 
that Prof. Salyards accomplished it, having produced 
successfully not only the longest and most profound poem, 
but the only sacred epic ever written by an American 
poet, his reputation being established not by his friends 
alone, but by eminent critics both in this country and in 
Europe. 

An edition of five thousand copies of Part I. of Ido- 
THEA — The Beauties of Truth — was published in Oxford, 
England, several years ago. Since the publication of the 
first edition, the work has been thoroughly revised and 
improved, and is still in manuscript ready for a second 
edition. 

Deemed supremely worthy, he received the degree of 
Master of Arts, conferred by Roanoke College. He was 
also elected an honorary member of the American Insti- 
tute of Christian Philosophy, of which the Rev. Charles 
F. Deems, D. D., LL. D., is the President. 

The following incidents may prove interesting as illus- 
trating his readiness at rejoinder when unjustly assailed: 

On one occasion, a peripatetic preacher made his ap- 
pearance in our town, with boastful pretensions to great 
learning. At the request of some of his friends. Prof. 
Salyards called on him; and, in the course of conver- 
sation, the Professor readily discovered that the preacher 
was only a vain pretender — entirely devoid of the learning 



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LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 23 



he professed to have. To test the matter, the Professor 
adroitly turned the conversation into such channel as ut- 
terly to expose his ignorant pretensions, at which the 
preacher became highly exasperated, remarking, "You 
must be a semi-fool ! ' ' Whereupon the Professor without 
getting at all ruffled, scanning the preacher, who was a 
very tall man, from head to foot, replied, "Sir, if I am a 
semi-fool, you are a whole fool," and walked -away amid 
the chagrin of the preacher and the merriment of the audi- 
tors. 

On another occasion, during the late civil war, he was 
approached, at the instance of one of our citizens, by a 
Federal or Yankee general who desired to gain informa- 
tion concerning the Confederate or Southern forces, as well 
as know the rendezvous of commissary supplies and refu- 
gees. The General having stated the object of his visit, 
the Professor looked at him intensely and said, "Sir, your 
dress, bearing, and position as an officer in a great army 
would indicate you to be a gentleman, and this being my 
opinion of you; sir, in case I should betray the where- 
abouts and movements of my own countrymen, what 
opinion would you have concerning me?" So apropos 
was the rejoinder, that the General turned on his heel 
and immediately walked away. 

But time forbids my dwelling longer on this occasion in 
recounting the history of his life. One by one the links 
that unite us with the past are broken. Our friend, 



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24 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 



teacher, and counselor, is gone. The want of his genial 
presence on this occasion mournfully impresses us with 
our grievous loss, teaching us the solemn lesson that 
' ' whether there be prophecies they shall fail ; whether 
there be tongues they shall cease ; whether there be knowl- 
edge it shall vanish." 

In somewhat impaired health for the past several years, 
last May he was attacked with facial erysipelas, from 
which, however, under the skill of his physician (Dr. 
Casper C. Henkel, a former pupil), he recovered; but the 
consequent prostration from this sickness, together with 
an attack of another disorder, proved too much of a strain 
upon his system already impaired by long years of contin- 
uous application to study and constant discharge of duties 
as author and teacher. The system was sapped of its 
vital energy, and the body worn out by old age, fulfilled 
the inevitable law — returned to kindred dust and the spirit 
to God who sent it forth. His death occurred at his res- 
idence in New Market, on August 10, 1885, at 10 min- 
utes past 12 o'clock in the morning, his age being 76 
years, 4 months, and i day. 

"Peace be to his ashes," "pleasant be his memory." 
His life-work is ended. The ripe, profound scholar has 
passed away. The venerable form of the loved teacher 
will no longer excite to manly emulation pupils gathered 
about his feet to catch his eloquent words of learning and 
of wisdom. Respectful men, admiring women, and won- 



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LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SAL YARDS. 25 



dering children, will never again greet with pleasant smile 
his genial face, as he was wont to pass to and fro in 
duty's path; for, his bod^^ bowed with infirmities, has 
gone down to silent dust, and will be seen among us no 
more forever. His body rests within sight of the Insti- 
tution over which he so zealoush^ presided and within the 
sound of the bell which used to call him and us to learn- 
ing's ardent shrine. But he still lives in the lives of those 
he so assiduously instructed: for one is a mathematician, 
another a linguist, a third a philosopher, a fourth a his- 
torian, and still another is a musician, but the subject of 
this sketch was all these and more — he was a distin- 
guished author and polished poet. If the great army of 
all his pupils were able to reproduce his learning — the 
genius of all combined could never create a poem equaling 
Idothea. But then he has bequeathed that to each of us 
and to posterity — a rich legacy of his unselfish generosity, 
and besides that a bright example of untiring industr\^ 
and distinguished usefulness. If his talents were great, 
energy and perseverance alone exhibited their highest de- 
velopment. If his genius was brilliant, it spent not itself 
in intoxicated imbecility, but leaves on record a literar>^ 
reputation unsurpassed in America in the resplendency of 
its grandeur. If his early delinquencies displayed the in- 
experience of immaturity, his surroundings and the perfec- 
tion of manhood ofier apology most satisfactory in his life 
of self-sacrifice devoted to the discipline and education of 



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26 LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOSEPH SALYARDS. 



youth and the elevation of humanity upon the plane of 
unselfish liberality and universal charity. 

Let us then strive to emulate his example of industry 
and perseverance, his many virtues, and from his devotion 
to learning to inspire others with like enthusiastic spirit. 
Yes, he still lives ! His brow is star -sealed. His reputa- 
tion is 

Fame's, 
One of the few, the immortal names, 
That were not bom to die. 

For wherever distinguished talents, lofty genius, profound 
learning, and tireless energy are admired, his name will be 
known, and his memory enshrined in their grateful hearts 
forever. Yes, our tuneful poet still lives as he himself 
has so sweetly sung: 

Nothing dies ; it only passes, 

Like the hills which I have trod ; 
Lives are but mysterious glasses, 

Linking all our days to God, 
And the Good Old Man is living, 

In the young, the fond, the fair, 
Life melodious drinking, giving 

Down the chords of light and air, 
Minstrel of the mountain heather. 

We shall always live together. 



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BEAUTY OF TRUTH. 



INVOCATION. 

GREAT Source of beauty, inspiration, love, 
From life below, to seraph life above, 
Maker and Lord of continent and sea, 
Thy mercy hath been mindiul e'en of me. 
For, I have lived where Freedom, Genius, Art, 
Descend from Thee and stir the human heart ; 
O'er all I see the Beauty of the True, 
Like stars in fountains, morn in drops of dew ; 
I hear the voice of ancient Time rehearse 
The Veda, Saga, Myth, Aonian verse, 
Where maru his fresh, ethereal vigor tries, 
To solve the mysteries of earth and skies. 
I find the future mirror 'd in the past, 
Thy finger mirror 'd in the Fair, the Vast ; 
I feast with Reason, and bright gleams have shone. 
Through Man and Nature, from the blue Unknown ; 
I lean with Faith, and treasure, line by line. 
Sweet revelations from thy Book divine. 
And now most thankful for the bliss unbought, 
I try the maze of feeling and of thought ; 
I sing to man how beautiftd Thou art ; — 
O, light and lead this inexperienced heart! 

— FROM IDOTHEA. 



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MAN NOT THE SHRINE. 



SATIRIC. 

MY golden youth might deem the world to be 
Great, good, enlightened, virtuous, happy, free 
But I have seen, e'en in my budding years, 
Some human misery, seen some human tears. 
Man might be great and happy, if he would. 
Some few enlightened, many might be good. 
The bard of Mantua tells his country so, 
Alas ! he proves them happier than they know. 
We lose the image of a life divine, 
We eat the dust, and grovel with the swine, 
Our heart is false, our warmth, a morbid heat, 
Our hate instinctive, and our love, deceit ; 
We barter beauty, waste the bliss we win. 
We rage or riot, roll in sloth or sin. 
We fight for factions, cringe to pride and power, 
And petty tyrants train us to the hour. 
Art shapes the column, decorates the hall ; 
Yet wields the sabre, wings the minnie ball. 
Our history is a list of battle-fields ; 
Our glory means the meeting of our shields. 
We talk of justice, learning, liberty ; 
Yet millions die that conquerors may be free. 
Lords boast the work their groaning vassals did : 
Slaves rear the column, build the pyramid ; 
Those marble pavements please the passing eye ; 
The toil is over, and the tears are dry. 
Cries, imprecations, scourges, curses sound, 
Those gorgeous halls and palaces around. 



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SEIvECTIONS FROM IDOTHEA. 29 



Pale Memory reads on pillars high and cold, 
The records red of agonies untold. 
We form the Court, erect the Senate hall, 
Laws, Constitutions ; — violate them all ; 
Belie the Lord of Nature in his face, 
And what we do not disbelieve, disgrace. 
A world of truth, philosophy, and light, 
With Bruno's fagot flashing on the sight ! 
Of Tasso's dungeon how we love to read ! 
We burn the martyr, then adopt the creed ! 
A world that boasts the Beautiful, the True, 
With broken arch, and battered wall in view. 
Still rolls the wheel of Juggernaut around 
A world of science and of arts profound, 
That boasts its tombs of marble and of sod. 
And builds its temples on the grave of god ! 

Away ! away ! I see no form divine. 

Truth, Beauty lives, but man is not the shrine ; 

To mountains high, to oceans deep I go. 

To brooks that murmur, to the winds that blow. 

The rocks beneath, the stars that roll above. 

May teach me Beauty, teach me Truth and Love 

Adieu the glory and the gates of men ! 

The rainbow rests upon the mountain glen. 



r 



SUSPENSE. 

I.YRIC. 

T 'LL weave a wreath of bright hues three, 
^ For the brow of my charming youth, 
And say, You must wear it, my love, for me. 

This garland of love and truth. 
For as its beauty and perfume, 

Are shed for thee alone. 
Thy true Lorraine, and her youthful bloom, 

While they last, shall be thine own. 
My love : 

While they last, shall be thine own. 

But as its sweets, so fragrant now, 

Must soon be sigh'd away, 
Its leaves upon thy happy brow, 

Soon wither and decay, 
These charms you love must wither too, 

This heart lie cold and lone ; 
But thou wilt know. Oh ! deep and true, 

They once were all thine own. 
My love ; 

They once were all thine own. 

Not I to Roman, golden shrine. 

My orisons can pay ; 
Thy God, thy worship shall be mine, 

Through loving night and day ; 



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SELECTIONS FROM IDOTHEA. 31 



WTien thou shalt seek, at dewy morn. 

Some holy spot alone, 
Lorraine shall still thy side adorn. 

Thy prayer shall be her own. 
My love ; 

Thy prayer shall be her own. 

I knew a prayer, dear mother taught 

My infant lips to say ; — 
Sweet words my dawning memory caught, 

Are warm and fresh to-day : — 
And when she passed, I pray'd it o'er. 

Aye, oft in tears alone. 
This prayer and thine are two no more ; 

They both are all your own. 
My love ; 

They both are all your own. 

I'll be an Houxi. fond and fair. 

In Tooba grove with you, 
A Peri of the lucid air, 

Less beautiful than true. 
And when you muse, or wish, or sigh. 

Will bring this fragrant zone, 
A faithful bliss, forever nigh, 

A life which is your own. 
My love ; 

A life which is your own. 



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4 



■a- 



MORNING. 



THE fading stars reluctantly withdrew 
Their keen regard, and dark the coppice grew ; 
A fleecy paleness overspread the moon, 
And orient airs began their whispers soon, 
And far the tall oracular pines above, 
Passed something like the first faint smile of love ; 
And something seem'd to whisper down from heaven, 
Awake, my sweetest minstrel of the seven ! 
Ye happy tenants of the wood and lawn, 
Arise, my loves, and drink the joys of dawn ! 
Long, misty lines, of dim, uncertain hue 
Reach'd forth, divergent, underneath the blue, 
Suffused the stars, and, sloping down the West, 
Set rose and ruby in the lunar crest. 
Earth lean'd to meet the coming Deity, 
And mountains hurried from the West to see. 
The orient lines are misty now no more ; 
The golden reins are flashing at the door ; 
The gate unfolds, — Time's ancient songs begin ; 
The king of glory and of day comes in ! 
Hail, Beauty, Light, Sublimity divine ! 
This, this is Morning ! Guido, what is thine ? 

— FROM IDOTHEA. 




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